Apparatus for curing and holding tobacco pipes



Oct. 1962 T. WOLFE 3,056,412

APPARATUS FOR CURING AND HOLDING TOBACCO PIPES Filed April 7, 1961 INVENTOR Thomas Wolfe ATTORNEY United States Patent @fi 3,056,412 Patented Oct. 2, 1962 ice 3,056,412 APPARATUS FOR CURING AND HOLDING TOBACCO PIPES Thomas Wolfe, 1195 Rancheros Road, Pasadena, Calif. Filed Apr. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 101,559 4 Claims. (Cl. 131-472) My invention relates to an apparatus for breaking-1n or curing tobacco pipes, and a device for holding smoking tobacco pipes.

When smoking a new tobacco pipe most smokers complain about the new pipe giving a harsh taste, hot smoke or sore tongue until the new pipe is properly seasoned or broken-in .after a relatively long period of use by the smoker.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide l device for smoking pipes which automatically smokes a new pipe, until properly seasoned or broken-in, while the owner is driving his automobile.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for breaking-in smoking pipes which is attachable to the wing or vent window of an automobile and which provides means for holding a lighted pipe and for adjusting its stem into the air stream while the automobile is moving to produce a draft through the pipe.

Another object of the invention is to provide a smoking pipe break-in device for curing or seasoning smoking pipes which utilizes the outward draft of an automobile ventilating window, boat or any object moving through the air to cure a lighted smoking pipe.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a construction of smoking pipe break-in device which is convertible to a pipe holder after the smoking pipes have been properly seasoned.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following specification hereinafter following by reference to the .accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the smoking pipe device attached to the front ventilating window of an automobile;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the smoking pipe break-in device and holder of my invention, showing the adjustable construction of the pipe holding heads and support arm and a magnet usable as an alternate support for the device;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along line 33 of FIG. 2, the magnet being omitted;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantiallly along line 4-4 of FIG. 2, and particularly showing the manner in which the break-in device magnetically adheres to a metal surface when converted to a pipe holder;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view showing the smoking pipe break-in device of my invention adjusted or converted to a holder for smoking pipes; and

FIG. 6 is a top schematic view showing the device of my invention attached to an automobile ventilating window and showing the manner in which the pipe stems are positioned into the air stream.

In the drawings, wherein, for the purpose of illustration, is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, like reference characters represent similar members.

The smoking pipe break-in device of the present invention consists of a spring-biased clip member shown generally at 1, having a support arm 2 pivotally connected thereto by means of a tubular rivet 3, as shown more clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4. The ends of the support arm 2 extend substantially normal to the main bar portion thereof as indicated at 4, and pipe holding members 5 are pivotally mounted to the ends thereof by means of tubular or other type of rivets 6 or other suitable pivotal mounting means as shown more particularly in FIG. 3.

The pipe holding members 5 are constructed of a resilient material such as plastic, rubber or the like and provide a central aperture indicated at 7 for gripping the stem of a smoking pipe as shown more particularly in FIG. 5. The pipe holder members 5 are split at 8 so that the stem 9 of the pipe 10 can be easily inserted into the aperture 7 to be securely retained therein by the resilient structure of the members. It is to be understood that the pipe holder members 5 could also be resilient spring clips pivotally mounted to the arm portions 4, rather than resilient rubber or plastic members which I have shown in the preferred form of my invention.

The spring-biased clip member 1 consists of a front body portion 11 and a rear body portion 12 secured to each other in pivotal engagement as shown at 13. The body portions 11 and 12 provide conventional gripping jaws as indicated at 14 which are normally biased to the closed position by means of a resilient leaf spring 15 which is connected to the rear body portion 12 by means of tubular rivet 3 and which extends into frictional engagement with the inner face of front body portion 11 as indicated at 16.

To operate the pipe break-in device or" my invention the front ventilating window or wing window of the automobile is partially opened to a position so as to draw air from the interior of the automobile, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. The resilient clip member 1 is then clipped to the edge of the ventilating window which extends into the automobile in such manner that the members 5 extend forwardly as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. The new smoking pipes 10 and 17 are then filled with tobacco and lighted in the usual manner and are then inserted into the resilient pipe holders 5 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, so that the pipe bowls are positioned interiorly of the automobile and their stems extends outwardly into the air stream which is created by the ventilating window position while the automobile is in forward motion. With the ventilating window in the proper position, a draft is created through the open ventilating window which causes air to be drawn from the inside of the car, flowing outwardly along the front or rear edge of the wing or ventilating window. The intensity of this draft can be regulated by adjusting the ventilating window opening and by opening other windows or adjusting the speed of the automobile. Thus the smoking pipe stems are positioned in the outflowing air stream so as to draw air through the smoking pipes resulting in automatic smoking of the pipes while the flow of air continues from the inside of the car toward the outside of the automobile, or while the automobile is in forward motion. The pipes are thus smoked until the tobacco is exhausted or the automobile stops for a sufficient length of time for the tobacco to become extinguished due to no draft being drawn through the pipe.

Since the contour of the ventilating or wing windows varies with various manufacturers of automobiles it is necessary to have some means on the smoking pipe breakin device for positioning the stems of the pipes into the air stream so that the device can be adjusted to operate on most makes of automobiles. This adjustment is provided by the pivotally mounted support arm 2 and the pivotally adjustable pipe holding members 5. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 the resilient clip member 1 is disposed substantially in the horizontal plane when .attached to the car wing or ventilating window 24 and the support arm 2 extends substantially in the vertical plane and is pivotaly adjustable in the vertical plane so that, depend ing upon the degree of slope of the leading edge of the wing window and the length of the smoking pipe stems, the stems of the pipes can always be moved into the air stream, designated by the arrows 25 in FIG. 6, by merely adjusting the support arm 2 in the vertical plane. In like manner the pipe stems can be properly adjusted in the horizontal plane into the air stream by pivoting the pipe holding members with respect to the extensions 4 of the support arm 2. Thus it can be seen that the pipe stem can be adjusted both in the Vertical and the horizontal planes so it can be properly disposed in the air stream to provide the correct degree of draft through the smoking pipe, during its breaking-in operation.

The rear body portion 12 of resilient clip member 1 includes a magnet 18 positioned within a housing 19 secured to the rear body portion 12 by means of rivets 20, or other suitable securing means. Pole pieces 21, constructed of paramagnetic material are secured to opposite sides of magnet 18 and extend through slots 22 in the rear face of rear body portion 12 and protrude outwardly therefrom as shown in FIG. 4, so that it will be in a position to make paramagnetic contact with a surface 23 to support the smoking pipe device thereon. This magnetic holding element is used mostly when the pipe breaking-in device is used as a smoking pipe holder after the smoking pipes have been properly seasoned. The resilient clip member 1 is merely removed from the wing window .and positioned against a paramagnetic surface in the vertical plane as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, or, similarly, on a horizontal plane, with the arm portions 4 of support arm 2 extending away from the supporting surface. The pipe holding members 5 are then rotated into the horizontal plane as shown in FIG. 5 and the smoking pipe stems are inserted therein. The magnet 18 produces sufiicient magnetic holding force to easily support the weight of at least two smoking pipes. Thus, after the pipes have been properly seasoned, the smoking pipe break-in device can be converted to a holder for the smoking pipes and can be magnetically attached to the dashboard of an automobile, tobacco can or other paramagnetic surfaces.

It is preferred that the front and rear body portions 11 and 12 of the resilient clip member 1 be constructed of aluminum or other non-paramagnetic material so that these members will not become magnetized and so that the entire magnetic holding force is restricted to the two point support provided by the pole pieces 21 on the rear surface of body portion 12. With this type construction, rear body portion 12 will always remain substantially parallel to the surface to which it is attached, and greater holding force is obtained by restricting the magnetic holding field to the small contact area provided by the pole pieces 21. It should also be noted that the device can be used as a pipe holder on non-paramagnetic surfaces by using the gripping jaws 14 of the clip member 1 to grip the surface, such as a paper tray, dish, or the like, and then rotating the pipe holding members 5 to the proper position to support the smoking pipes in either the horizontal or the vertical plane, as desired. Other types of special clips, non-magnetic in character, can be utilized for accomplishing both the break-in and holder features for purposes as disclosed herein as well as special situations requiring a variety of sizes, shapes and materials of clips.

While I have described my invention in its preferred embodiment, I realize that modifications can be made and I desire that it be understood that no limitations upon my invention are intended other than may be imposed by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

1. A smoking pipe break-in device for attachment to the ventilating window of a moving vehicle and'for utilizing the air draft therethrough, said device comprising in combination, a resiliently biased clip member having a longitudinal axis substantially perpendicular to a hinge portion thereof and having coacting gripping jaws, a support arm connected to said clip member, and smoking pipe holding means connected to each end of said support arm for supporting ignited smoking pipes in an air draft with the stem axes of the pipes substantially parallel to said clip axis to cause automatic smoking thereof.

2. A smoking pipe curing device for attachment to the ventilating window of a moving vehicle and which utilizes the window air draft to draw air through an ignited pipe, said device comprising in combination, a resiliently biased mounting clip member having coacting gripping jaws, a support arm pivotally connected to said clip member and extending transversely thereof, said support arm having end extensions arranged substantially normal thereto, and smoking pipe holding means pivotally connected to said end extensions for aiding in manipulating the proper draft across said device.

3. A smoking pipe curing device as set forth in claim 2 in which said smoking pipe holding means is constructed of resilient material and carries resiliently coacting pipe gripping jaws.

4. A smoking pipe curing device and pipe holder for attachment to a wing window of a moving vehicle while curing a pipe and which uses the Window air draft to draw air through an ignited pipe and which is convertible to a smoking pipe holder, said device comprising in combination a resiliently biased mounting clip member having coacting gripping jaws, a support arm pivotally connected to said clip member, smoking pipe holding heads pivotally connected to said support arm and adapted to receive and grip the shank portions of smoking pipes, and a magnetic holding member carried by said mounting clip member for magnetically mounting the device to a paramagnetic surface as a pipe holder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 363,525 Lipp May 24, 1887 637,889 Parker et a1 Nov. 28, 1899 675,063 Kift May 28, 1901 1,740,334 Churchill Dec. 17, 1929 2,639,716 Bellinghieri May 26, 1953 2,796,068 Healy June 18, 1957 2,931,365 McKenzie Apr. 5, 1960 OTHER REFERENCES Popular Science Magazine, page 228 of the issue of October 1938.

Popular Science Magazine, page 147 of the issue of July 1948, 

